The First DotA 2 Tourney Concludes, Ukrainians Purchase a Small Island

Years of shouting obscenities at people over Ventrilo have culminated in a $1 million novelty oversized check for Ukrainian gaming team Na’Vi, who sadly do not wear blue body paint or tails while they play. By cinching first place in Valve’s The International DotA 2 tournament, Na’Vi has suddenly caused DotA enthusiasts all over the world to look up The Ukraine on Wikipedia, only to find out that their flag is very boring.

Chinese team EHOME took second place, and a quarter mil along with it. Here’s a full list of the rankings and awards:

Na’Vi – $1,000,000

EHOME – $250,000

Scythe.SG – $150,000

MYM – $80,000

M5 – $35,000

iG – $35,000

OK.Nirvana.int – $25,000

MiTH-Trust – $25,000

I’m generally not bashful about my love of StarCraft II, so it’s awesome to see yet another high-profile eSports event. Valve is clearly throwing a shitton of support behind this game and it isn’t even out yet. The growth of this scene makes it more viable for gamers to go pro full-time, which makes for even better competition and events for slobs like me to watch. I also have to say, no matter how much I tell myself that DotA is really popular, I’m always shocked. The stream had some stuttering issues all weekend, which isn’t a bash on Valve in any regard. I’d love to see the view numbers for this tournament at some point.